The House Appropriations Committee released their draft Labor-HHS-Education spending bill today in which they executed several spending cuts and revoked all additional funding for “Obamacare”. Some highlights: Health & Human Services The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is funded at $6.7 billion, a $1.5 billion increase over FY11 levels The National Institutes of Health…

Late yesterday, Congressional leaders agreed to a deal that will avert a government shutdown as the end of the federal fiscal year looms. The Senate approved a week-long continuing resolution (CR) that will run through October 4th, which is expected to be approved by the House – through a pro forma session – sometime on…

With just five days until the end of the current federal fiscal year, congressional leaders continue to work to resolve an impasse over how to pay for disaster aid that threatens to shut down the government on Friday at midnight. There appears to be bipartisan support for a continuing resolution (CR) that would allow the…

President Obama today announced that it was time to commit to tackling education reform and that he would allow states to apply for waivers that will give them flexibility from mandates under the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law that many officials agree is outdated and no longer effective. The President stated that many states and…

Late last night (or early morning, if you want to be more accurate), the House approved a continuing resolution (CR) to keep federal government running past September 30th but the bill faces challenges in the Senate this morning. Even before passage of the House bill, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) warned his caucus would block…

Yesterday, the House of Representatives failed to approve a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund federal government beyond September 30th – the end of the federal fiscal year. That CR would have extended funding at current levels through November 18th. Two issues caused the defeat of the bill. First, the failed CR would have set…

Congress is expected to approve a continuing resolution (CR) this week to keep government operating past the September 30th end of the federal fiscal year. The House will take action on the bill early this week, which would provide funding for government programs through November 18th. The bill would set the discretionary funding at 1.5…

The American Jobs Act introduced by President Obama last week and delivered to congress in full bill form this week, looks like it may carry some tax implications for UW. If passed, the bill would expand and extend the existing payroll tax reduction for employees from the already reduced rate of 4.2% to 3.1%. Would…

The House released details of their continuing resolution (CR) proposal yesterday, which would fund federal government operations through November 18th. The federal fiscal year ends on September 30th, and Congress is far from completing work on FY12 appropriations. The measure would fund the government at the $1.043 trillion annual level included in the debt limit…

With the end of the federal fiscal year looming, congressional leaders are drafting a continuing resolution (CR) for FY12 in order to avoid a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on September 30th. The CR is expected to run through November 18th, and would set spending levels at those agreed to in debt limit…